Everyone loves a goalscoring goalkeeper, so no wonder there is a lot of affection out there for Aberystwyth Town keeper Matt Turner.
It was the sixth minute of injury time and Aber were losing 1-0 at home to Pontypridd Town in the JD Welsh Premiership Conference.
Now, some managers don’t like their keepers going up for corners. In fact, Argentinian World Cup winner Emi Martinez got it in the neck recently from boss Unai Emery for doing just that and being out of position when Villa conceded.
Emery’s theory seemed to be that he would rather lose 1-0, than risk losing 2-0 because the chances of a keeper scoring were almost negligible.
Hold my beer, said Turner on Saturday night when the live S4C cameras were at Park Avenue.
Up he went, the ball was knocked back in and there was Turner – strikingly all decked out in his yellow goalkeeping kit – slotting home the equaliser.
It won’t be enough to see Aberystwyth going on to fight for a Europa League play-off place, but it has been enough to go viral with over 80,000 people viewing the clip.
Turner – who is on loan from Cardiff City – is now the new hero of the Green Army.
He said: “It’s always a bizarre moment when a keeper scores and it’s always great to see the headlines for people when it happens.
“But I never thought there would be this many videos of the goal. From the fan reactions and the rest of the squad celebrating; it’s been a little bit crazy!
“I was going up to cause a little confusion and just hope I could help in giving someone some space to create a good chance.
“I never dreamed that the chance would fall to me. I just tried to get something on it and direct it towards the goal and thankfully that was enough to get the point.”
Away from hero-worship at Park Avenue, Haverfordwest County remain in the driving seat in the race to claim the final Europa League play-off place after they won 2-0 at Flint Town United.
Tony Pennock’s men stay four points clear at the top of the JD Cymru Premier Play-Off Conference with three games left to play.
Corey Shephard and Jordan Davies got the goals early for the Bluebirds, while Harry Owen was sent off late on for the home side.
Cymru Premier champions The New Saints enjoyed a thumping 5-0 away win at nine-man Newtown, who are bottom of the Championship Conference.
Both Kieran Mills-Evans and Callum Roberts were sent off for the hosts in the second half and the runaway leaders took full advantage.
Declan McManus was the star with a hat-trick to take his league tally to 24 goals for the season.
Substitutes Adrian Cieslewicz and Gwion Dafydd wrapped up another satisfying afternoon on the road for Craig Harrison’s men.
On Friday night, there were away wins for second-placed Connah’s Quay Nomads and Penybont in third.
The Nomads won 2-1 at Bala Town thanks to first-half strikes from Harry Franklin and George Horan, either side of George Newell’s equaliser for the hosts.
Penybont edged a five-goal thriller at Cardiff Met, fighting back from 2-0 down to triumph 3-2 thanks to Lewis Harling’s 79th-minute winner.
Lewis Rees put the home side ahead in first-half stoppage time and Harry Owen doubled their advantage in the first minute of the second half.
But Nathan Wood began the visitors’ comeback on 64 minutes and Ryan Reynolds grabbed the equaliser before Harling had the final say.
In the Play-Off Conference on Friday, second-placed Caernarfon Town enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 home win over bottom club Airbus UK Broughton.
